


Petals on the Wind

by FireEye



Category: Trials of Mana
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 23:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20647727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/pseuds/FireEye
Summary: A conversation in the gardens of Laurent, after sunset.





	Petals on the Wind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [runicmagitek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runicmagitek/gifts).

The sun was setting over the distant horizon, painting the mountain and the world below in a fire-hued glow, and the deepening sky would soon be full of stars. The wind whispered through the castle, its soft voice telling of the smallest cracks in stone and hidden places.

Riesz closed her eyes and breathed deep, taking in the calm, quiet moment. Opening them again, she blinked.

A flower petal drifted past her on the wind, followed by a second. She snatched the third where it brushed against her arm, and she stared at it incredulously.

Wild roses didn’t grow on the mountain.

She looked up, then around. Finally, Riesz spotted the familiar man half-crouched, half-flat to the supporting beam above. Hawkeye grinned at her, answering her wave with a quick series of gestures.

By necessity, thieves of the Guild could communicate entirely by use of their hands. Riesz only understood a scarce few of the gestures, those that Hawkeye once taught her in their travels. With her, he had taken to simplifying, and further amending his sentences with a quick _Understand?_

She didn’t understand all of it, but she got the important parts. Smiling, she nodded.

Hawkeye made one more sign with his hand – one he’d used often, but never told her the meaning of – and was gone.

Even watching him, it was hard to see _how_ it was that he moved so deftly and silently to simply disappear. Taking a breath, Riesz glanced about the corridor, and took off running.

She was out of breath by the time she reached her destination. Clearing her throat, Riesz cast about the open-air chamber.

The Hanging Garden was full of ivies and flowers, small hedges and all manner of other plants that could survive in the fortress’ high altitude, along with small ponds and rivers. Several ornate stone benches lined the walkways and walls that meandered through the greenery. Several statues, too, decorated the garden, the most prominent being of the Goddess herself.

Riesz didn’t see Hawkeye.

She set her spear against the archway wall, and wandered deeper inside. Her gaze flitted here and there, checking for obvious hiding spots. It was possible he hadn’t gotten there before her, but she doubted it.

Fingers brushed her shoulder. It was the faintest touch, that she wasn’t certain she had felt it, but she spun about anyway.

She barely caught the flash of his smile and the gleam in his eyes before they fell into one another, Riesz sliding her arms around his chest, and Hawkeye’s arms crushed firmly against her back.

They remained that way for several long moments, amid the wind and the water. There was a light tension in his frame, not entirely expected and neither welcome. But it melted away between one breath and the next; he squeezed her tighter, then started to pull away. As he did, he leaned in to steal friendly kiss.

It wasn’t the first he’d kissed her, but it never went deeper than that. It was a habit of his, it seemed; she never asked, and he never ventured to explain. For a time, she had wondered if it were a desert thing.

Riesz never read more into it than that. That didn’t mean she didn’t find it pleasant, deep down.

She licked her lip.

“What brings you here?”

“Clear water... fresh air...” Hawkeye shrugged, nonchalantly. “Your beauty. Your smile...”

Such flattery evoked such a smile, but perhaps a more wry one than he might have been hoping for. Riesz had never read more into that either. She pressed her fingers to his lips, and he reached for her hand.

She became aware that – somewhere, in all that – he’d managed to tuck a flower in her hair. 

“I can’t imagine it’s as easy for you these days as summoning a dragon.”

“Are you telling me that all the beauty of Laurent isn’t worth a quick hike up-...”

His head snapped towards the archway. He took a quick step back as though to vanish. Puzzled, she held fast to his wrist; he froze – looking down at her.

“Captain!”

Liza’s voice gave her half a moment’s notice before the woman rounded the corner. And stopped.

Riesz blushed. She was off her rounds, there was a thief in the Garden, and, as Liza informed her uneasily...

“There’s a delegation from the Guild newly arrived from Navarl.”

_Oh_.

“I’ll... go make certain they’re comfortable, shall I?”

Hawkeye twisted his hand out of her grip, and she let him. But Riesz didn’t risk taking her eyes off him to answer, “Please do.”

Liza made a hasty retreat.

Hawkeye didn’t.

“I didn’t think they’d be that...” he began to say, so quietly it had to be entirely to himself. Finding her staring at him, he blinked and quieted.

“...Hawkeye?”

He glanced away from her. That, in itself, many people would have found telling in some way. However, combined with the faint smile of a man who’d been caught, they might have chalked it up to embarrassment.

Knowing him, as Riesz did, she could see deeper than that – the way his sharp eyes moved about the garden, checking his exits.

Smiling or not, that didn’t bode well.

“Should I be concerned?”

The smile faded, leaving only Hawkeye.

“It’s... nothing to do with Laurent.” He met her gaze; hesitant, but unflinching. “I swear. It’s... me. Just me.”

“What happened?”

“My-...” There was a flicker of... _something_, deep in his eyes. Anger. Resentment. He brought it under control fast, but Riesz saw it. It caught her by surprise... by the way his expression shifted, it caught _him_ by surprise, too. “The Flamekhan wants... me to take a more active role in the Guild.”

Many often sought such power, Riesz observed quietly and to herself. Out loud, she ventured, “Is that such a bad thing?”

“He wants me to be his _heir_.”

His gaze fell somewhere near their feet.

“I’m not my brother,” his voice cracked, and he recovered swiftly. “Hell, Jessica would be a better fit than I am. She’s more-...”

He didn’t finish. Not wanting to push him, Riesz waited, but he simply didn’t bother. 

“I think you could lead,” she told him at length, “if it came to that.”

Hawkeye shook his head.

“Maybe I _could_, but I don’t _want_ to.”

Riesz regarded him quietly. He’d once told her thieves weren’t meant to be alone. Now he was running again. She wondered, idly, if his path had meandered or if he’d run straight to her. Whether it mattered if he had.

A slow dread gripped her with the realization that, if Flamekhan pressed the issue, she couldn’t protect Hawkeye. Not that he would, but not that she knew him.

Still, he was a father. Adopted or not, Hawkeye was his son. Without Isabella’s influence, he wouldn’t....

He _wouldn’t_, would he?

“Why did you come here?” she asked.

Hawkeye took in a deep breath. Held it. Let it go.

Slowly, he raised his head to meet her eyes. His fingers brushed her cheek, and it was all Riesz could do to keep from closing hers. Then she _did_, because his mouth was on hers. Her thumb found the line of his jaw, and his fingers pressed into her hip.

This was different than before.

This was...

_...oh_.

Her heart gave a little flutter. Maybe it wasn’t so different, after all.

They broke apart, softly, only for Hawkeye draw her into his arms.

“I needed to see you,” he murmured into her hair. “I love you. I always have, I think.”

Not knowing what to say, Riesz leaned against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was faster than hers, she thought; but hers was catching up.

“And I want you to come with me.”

A small shiver slithered its way down her spine.

It surprised her. Any maybe it shouldn’t have. After all, he’d once told her... _thieves weren’t meant to be alone_....

She wondered, idly, if anyone was.

“I know this is your home... but if they needed you, you could always come back...”

Pulling away from him, Riesz allowed her feet to carry her to where she’d left her weapon. Hawkeye took one step after her, and held himself back. She hefted the shaft of the spear into the crook of her arm with a practiced ease, and turned back to him.

His attention flitted about the Garden, and he missed the way she moved her hand as she strolled back towards him.

“Tell me you don’t feel the way I do, and... I’ll go. I’ll go, and you’ll never see me again, I swear.”

That was, perhaps, the last thing she ever wanted. She reached for his fingers, and brought his knuckles to her lips.

“It’s okay,” she promised him, “I’m here.”

His breath hitched. And he kissed her again. Everything unspoken in it was everything she needed to know she was making the right choice.

Laurent was safe. Elliot had a host of trusted advisors, and was fast growing into a wise ruler in his own right. They were at peace, and didn’t need her.

Hawkeye did.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I did a full playthrough of this game, and I have a copy of Collection of Mana for Switch but I do not have a Switch yet, so if I am forgetting pertinent details or slipped with regards to consistency re: the new translation, I apologize. Anyway, I still hope you enjoy the thing. :D


End file.
